Google account contact sync is off and cannot be turned on

syncing Google Contacts requires deep system privileges due to how it has been implemented by Google. You'll need to use an alternative solution.

Login to Google Contacts elsewhere (or maybe Vanadium works), export your contacts as a .VCF file, and import that.

I can assure you there's nothing that needs syncing from Google. You are able to DIRECTLY log into that particular service and make changes. The biggest hurdles would be contacts and calendar, but those have many many other solutions.

Of which, maintaining a vcf file of your core contacts and ideally a web-based calendar shouldn't be too hard.

Always seek solutions that rely on the involvement of fewest hands.

flawedworld I'm also a brand new user. Would this be in the category of "syncing Google contacts may work in the future", or is it more "it is not worth getting it working"?

thrik not worth and won't be made to work save you contacts using Google Contacts to a .vcf file prior to flashing or use GMail to do likewise and then add the .vcf to your GrapheneOS handset and import using the base contacts app.

I have a pixel 9, installed the current stable Graphene OS, installed google play and related services, and installed Google contacts, it "just worked".

FWIW, I see that this thread is 2 years old, so I don't know if anything has changed in the interim regarding the system privileges involved. The last poster mentioned being able to get Google Contact sync to work by installing the latest GOS, and the Google Contacts app.

However I tried this today on my Pixel 8 Pro, (latest GOS and Google Contacts app), and I added a new contact to my Google Contacts, and it did NOT sync with my Pixel 8/GOS. There is an option in the GOS Contact app to turn on Google Account syncing, but after enabling that, my newly added contact still did not sync. The screen shows my google account email address listed but with 0 contacts, (and no other options).

When I go to my Password, passkeys & accounts setup screen and select my Google account, the items available for syncing are Calendar, Google Calendar, Google Fi (my provider), and Tasks in Calendar, but not Contacts. Calendar syncing does work correctly between the Google Calendar app and my Google Calendars. For contact syncing for now, I've been using the method described earlier in the thread by accessing my Google Contacts and exporting the VCF from there, and then manually importing it to my Pixel/GOS phone.

Ideally I would prefer being able to sync contacts and calendars directly from my 2 PCs, (running Thunderbird), and my 2 Pixel 8 Pros and Pixel Tablet, all running GOS/Thunderbird. I'm hoping this will enabled soon using Thunderbird Sync;

https://blog.thunderbird.net/2023/07/an-update-on-thunderbird-sync/

Or perhaps a combination of syncthing on my Windows PCs, and syncthing Android?;

https://syncthing.net/
https://github.com/Catfriend1/syncthing-android

Good Luck..

Thanks very much!!

Enabling permissions for Contacts for Google Play Services, also allowed my Pixel 8 Pro and the GOS Contacts app, to sync with my Google Contacts account. Appreciate the response!

Good Luck..